Cernel: download this
Cernel: https://files.fm/u/qxgr24zw#_
Cernel: it's novalland map
Cernel: tell me when you have it
Cernel: don't put it inside downloaded maps yet
Cernel: ok so you have it downloaded?
wirkey: y
Cernel: cool
Cernel: so now do that
Cernel: take 270bc from your downloaded maps folder and move it out
Cernel: or delete it
wirkey: don't have it
Cernel: ok good
Cernel: be sure you don't have it either zipped or unzipped
Cernel: unzip the navalland map
wirkey: where?
Cernel: outside downloadedmaps for now
Cernel: wherever you prefer
Cernel: once you have it unzipped, go into it until you reach the folder called "map"
wirkey: aye
Cernel: cut paste it outside
Cernel: rather
Cernel: cut paste the "map" folder inside the downloadedMaps folder
Cernel: and rename the "map" folder to "270bc" (lowercase)
wirkey: y
Cernel: so you have this 270bc folder that inside has the other folders called "games" etc. and it is in downloadedMaps right?
wirkey: y
Cernel: ok
...
Cernel: ok can you play it?
wirkey: it's ugly
Cernel: see? we are able to play a map that is not available in repository
Cernel: you want to actually try 1 round?
Cernel: I woudn't mind to try it
wirkey: seriously or just for testing?
Cernel: seriously
Cernel: testing we already did

I sacrificed 270bc, but it could have been whatever map nominally available in the bot.

Since, obviously, the bot doesn't need to see the game (because, you know, it is a bot: it doesn't really have eyes and stuff), you just need the map to have the same name of a whatever map the bot have, and it will work.

Here you go: you can play whatever games you wish in whatever bot, as long as you and your mate do what I told @wirkey to do, mutatis mutandis.

That is why I said that it is senseless that the bots are required to have maps, meaning the skins (and don't really need the xml either, by the way).

@redrum I don't know if we want to make an official post "how to hack your map to play into any bots", but that's possible. I'll let you decide, since it is a ghetto hack.

@cernel Yeah, my understanding is essentially the bot just needs the game XML either by having it loaded on the bot or by the player providing a save game (as save games have the game XML in it essentially). The rest of the map assets are only used locally by the players actually viewing the map. I believe in theory that we could do a number of different things to bots so that it is easier to update maps and allow players to bring their own maps. The rest of the stuff is essentially just 'checks' that happen because bots load similar to local so it checks that it has the map folder, the right map name, etc. How much effort it would be to do something like that I'm not really sure without looking at the code.

@redrum Yeah, the bots shouldn't really need anything other than the xml.
Ideally we'd change the bot code so it only checks for xml files in the bot directory.
But this needs to be coordinated with @LaFayette so the bot scripts can handle this.

@cernel good point yes it can be hacked in. This will only work if the skin for that map is already loaded in the bot tho as you pointed out. Thus any "new" map that used it's own new skin would have to be loaded.